1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variety of four-leaf clover and asexual propagation thereof.
2. Prior Art
There are more than 250 species of clovers. All are members of the pea family. The clovers are considered as being shamrocks, usually consisting of small round lobed leaves. The white clover (Trifolium repense L.) is actually native to the United States. It is a true perennial and has white flowers, and occasionally a four-leaf clover. Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is an annual clover commonly planted in the medians of the highway. It also has rounded lobed leaves with deep red blooms. In general, the clovers are classified into the white clover and the red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) according to the color of flower thereof. The white clover typically has a short and straight root, a small stem and three leaves. The white clover can be cultivated using a part of creeping stem, which also can be asexually propagated from root node. The white clover is classified as generally having white-color flowers. Each of the leaves of the white clover is egg-shaped, and is not aesthetic.
Floral languages of four-leaf clover are known as “the luck”, “the hope”, “the love” and “the faith”, so that numerous people wish to keep the four-leaf clovers, but it is not easy to find the natural four-leaf clovers. Thus, since the four-leaf clovers have not only scarcity value but also ornamental value, they are considered as having great commercial values. Thereby, the four-leaf clovers have been used in the preparation of various articles, for example, an accessory, public relations goods, a present, a press flower and a dry flower, in order to attract consumers. Therefore, there have been needs to develop a new type of four-leaf clover, which grows rapidly and can be acclimated to environment easily.
The conventional clovers, which are native in Korea, are occasionally four-leaf clovers. Those clovers typically have oval shaped green leaves and relatively short stems, while having an excellent ground covering ability. Since the occasional four-leaf clovers are resulted from natural mutation, it is difficult to produce the four-leaf clovers massively.
On the other hand, a clover having three leaves, which was introduced from foreign countries into Korea and which has been cultivated and has been used as feed, includes a commercially available red clover class, for example, TR 2000, Titus, Kenland and Atlas. However, the clovers of those races are not only hard to cultivate but also are difficult to make them acclimated to the environment of Korea. Therefore, there have been needs to develop a new variety of four-leaf clover that grows well and has a strong nature.